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We first heard about this restaurant during an interview with Bill Kurtis about his Tallgrass Beef Company. We were going to be in the area, so we decided to give it a try.
We checked out their website before going so we knew that it wasn't anything fancy inside and the dress was casual. I worried, though, before we got there because I thought we were going to be underdressed. There were many people just as casual as we were, but also many who were in suits. It was a weeknight, so possibly people came straight from work.
The place was a little different than expected. First, it was in a weird location. It seemed like it was part of an office building. They had a back corner and the front corner was empty, so when you first drive up you are not really sure if they are open or not.
There was a bar area separate from the dining area. It looked like you could eat in the bar. The main dining area had a mixture of tables, booths and tables against a banquette. We were there early in the evening so we had our choice of tables. One thing we noticed is that the wood tables were really beat-up. I would suggest covering them with tableclothes; it looks really tacky.
I have read other reviews of this restaurant and the biggest complaint is the service. We thought the service was great. As soon as we were seated our servicer came and took our drink order. To our surprise the wine list was very reasonably priced.
This restaurant uses products from local farms, which makes the menu very interesting. They make their own sausages, salad dressings and ice cream.
I chose for my appetizer the Maine "Peeky Toe" Crab Cake over Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with a Citrus Butter Sauce. I was hesitant because I really don't like grapefruit, but I decided to chance it. It was well worth it. The flavors worked really well together and I really could not taste the bitterness of the grapefruit. The crab cake on its own was one of the best I've ever had.
My husband odered the Homemade Pate in a Crock with Apples and Port Wine-Balsamic Reduction. He spread the pate on the apples and drizzed the reduction on top and he loved it!
For entrees I had the halibut which had a brioche crust and what I think was a lemon butter sauce. We were told this dish used to be a special and people liked it so much, it was permanently put on the menu. The menu online is not updated with this dish so I can't confirm what the sauce was. The fish, which was perfectly cooked, was served over a warm green bean salad in a pesto sauce. Wow, was that good. I've never had anything like it.
My husband had the Tallgrass Beef filet special. It was served with sauteed mushrooms and roasted potatoes. However, he opted to substitute the Twice Baked Potato with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese for the roasted potatoes. In fact, it was so big that we split it.
Unfortunately we had no room for dessert.
I would definitely dine here again.
http://www.prairiegrasscafe.com/
Friday, May 29, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Rip Tide - Milwaukee, WI
This particular Saturday we were looking for a seafood restaurant in Milwaukee. Many times in the past the name Rip Tide came up, but when we've read the reviews we've always decided against it. Most talk about how bad the service is.
We made reservations through Open Table. We wanted 6:30, but they only had 6:00 or 7:00 available. We chose 6:00. We were meeting another couple there and they always like to have a drink at the bar first. They arrived a few minutes before 6:00, so my husband went and checked in with the hostess, told her we were here and asked if we could have a drink at the bar first, then be seated. She said no, that they were busy and we needed to be seated right away. That was fine; we realize how important keeping to your reservation is if the restaurant is busy. In the few seconds it took all 4 of us to walk back up to the hostess station, a different hostess was there and she said we had a wait of about 20 minutes. Ahhhhh. We had just given up our bar stools!
The service was pretty bad at the bar. They had plenty of bartenders, that was not the problem. It was that they were not paying attention to the customers at the bar. We would have to try to get their attention away from their personal conversations to get any service.
I would like to point out that the bar area was extremely loud, and it was very difficult to talk. We hoped that the dining area would not be as loud, but it was. If you expect to carry on a conversation, this is not the place to go.
Once we were seated our server did come right away and take care of drinks.
We ordered appetizers first. We all shared Lobster Lettuce Wraps, Fried Grouper Bites and the "Damn Good Crab Cake". The appetizers were very good. I feel that the Lobster Lettuce Wraps needed a better description because it was actually a lobster salad (with mayo, etc.) wrapped in lettuce leaves. It was really good, but not at all what we were expecting. The crab cake was big and very good also. One of our friends didn't like it because it was made with cilantro. I guess she didn't think that was normal. The grouper bites were my least favorite, but still good.
Salad is included. It's basically a garden salad, mostly iceberg, but nothing special. The server only brought three of our salads, she forgot the dressing for one and actually it took her about 10 minutes to come back.
At this point we'd ordered another round of drinks and that took about 15 minutes. It seemed that there were not enough servers to handle the amount of people.
By the time she brought the 4th salad, the entrees were only a couple minutes after that, not giving my husband enough time to eat his salad.
I ordered Crab Stuffed Shrimp for my entree. It was served with a beurre blanc sauce and rice. It was good, but I wished I would have realized the "crab" was the same crab cake we had as an appetizer.
My husband ordered the King Crab Legs. Anytime we go to Bob Chinn's in Wheeling, Illinois, he gets the King Crab Legs. He said that Rip Tide's do not even come close and they are just as expensive. In addition, he had no accompaniments, no starch or vegetables like all the other entrees came with.
The couple ordered the Crab Stuffed Shrimp also and she really liked it. Her husband ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna, which he liked too.
Overall, though, the experience was not good at all. The food does not make up for the bad service. Because they do have a great view (Lake Michigan), it could be a really nice place to eat outside, but it's just too expensive to suffer through the bad service.
http://www.getriptide.com/
We made reservations through Open Table. We wanted 6:30, but they only had 6:00 or 7:00 available. We chose 6:00. We were meeting another couple there and they always like to have a drink at the bar first. They arrived a few minutes before 6:00, so my husband went and checked in with the hostess, told her we were here and asked if we could have a drink at the bar first, then be seated. She said no, that they were busy and we needed to be seated right away. That was fine; we realize how important keeping to your reservation is if the restaurant is busy. In the few seconds it took all 4 of us to walk back up to the hostess station, a different hostess was there and she said we had a wait of about 20 minutes. Ahhhhh. We had just given up our bar stools!
The service was pretty bad at the bar. They had plenty of bartenders, that was not the problem. It was that they were not paying attention to the customers at the bar. We would have to try to get their attention away from their personal conversations to get any service.
I would like to point out that the bar area was extremely loud, and it was very difficult to talk. We hoped that the dining area would not be as loud, but it was. If you expect to carry on a conversation, this is not the place to go.
Once we were seated our server did come right away and take care of drinks.
We ordered appetizers first. We all shared Lobster Lettuce Wraps, Fried Grouper Bites and the "Damn Good Crab Cake". The appetizers were very good. I feel that the Lobster Lettuce Wraps needed a better description because it was actually a lobster salad (with mayo, etc.) wrapped in lettuce leaves. It was really good, but not at all what we were expecting. The crab cake was big and very good also. One of our friends didn't like it because it was made with cilantro. I guess she didn't think that was normal. The grouper bites were my least favorite, but still good.
Salad is included. It's basically a garden salad, mostly iceberg, but nothing special. The server only brought three of our salads, she forgot the dressing for one and actually it took her about 10 minutes to come back.
At this point we'd ordered another round of drinks and that took about 15 minutes. It seemed that there were not enough servers to handle the amount of people.
By the time she brought the 4th salad, the entrees were only a couple minutes after that, not giving my husband enough time to eat his salad.
I ordered Crab Stuffed Shrimp for my entree. It was served with a beurre blanc sauce and rice. It was good, but I wished I would have realized the "crab" was the same crab cake we had as an appetizer.
My husband ordered the King Crab Legs. Anytime we go to Bob Chinn's in Wheeling, Illinois, he gets the King Crab Legs. He said that Rip Tide's do not even come close and they are just as expensive. In addition, he had no accompaniments, no starch or vegetables like all the other entrees came with.
The couple ordered the Crab Stuffed Shrimp also and she really liked it. Her husband ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna, which he liked too.
Overall, though, the experience was not good at all. The food does not make up for the bad service. Because they do have a great view (Lake Michigan), it could be a really nice place to eat outside, but it's just too expensive to suffer through the bad service.
http://www.getriptide.com/
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